


it's late

by civillove



Series: brio prompts from tumblr [4]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 19:07:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20783618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/civillove/pseuds/civillove
Summary: anon requestested:  “ Had I known I was going to have guests over at 4 a.m., I would’ve tidied up. “





	it's late

She knows it’s late.

She knows it’s late but her sister’s with Noah and she doesn’t want to bother Ruby when she’s just gotten back on the right track with Stan—

Beth left her house so fast that she just managed to take her car keys; no wallet, no phone. She drives to his apartment on autopilot, hopes he doesn’t slam the door in her face but she…quite literally has nowhere to go right now and she’s not about to go back home.

So she waits as she rings the buzzer for Rio’s apartment; knows it’s better than climbing up the fire escape and knocking on his window. She’s done that once or twice and while he hasn’t outright been annoyed, it’s far too late for that. The relationship Rio has with his ex in terms of custody with Marcus is still something she doesn’t know, figures she can’t ask, and he won’t offer up that information on his own. If Marcus is in the apartment tonight she’ll turn around and…and sleep in her car or something.

She pinches the bridge of her nose and debates turning around when the door finally opens. Rio’s dressed in a pair of black sweats and a t-shirt that’s inside out. He blinks at her, leaning against the doorframe, clearly surprised she’s standing at his place.

“What’s goin’ on?” He says, voice rough from sleep. She’s woken him up, _fuck, _and hates how good it sounds. At the same time, something hard and sharp hits her in the gut because she’s imposing and her whole body screams at her to walk down the steps to her van.

“Sorry, I know it’s late. I just…uh,” She trails off, swallowing thickly over the lump in her throat.

Rio stands a little straighter, like he’s finally gotten a good look at her. No makeup, in her own set of pajamas, leggings and a distressed t-shirt that shows hints of her lime green sports bra underneath.

He opens the door a wider, not asking her any more questions, “Come on.” He tilts his head towards the inside of the apartment building, to which she passes him without a moment’s notice.

They walk up to his apartment, the door slightly ajar so he didn’t have to bring his keys with him. When he closes the door, he flips the light switch on, illuminating the living room. Rio pauses to toe off his shoes, a smile tugging the ends of his mouth in a silent joke before,

“Had I known I was goin’ to have guests over at 4 a.m., I would’ve tidied up.”

It does make her smile though, just a little, because his place as always is immaculate. Sometimes she wants to ask him if his apartment doubles as one of those show rooms for furniture stores, because sometimes it looks so untouched she’s afraid to misplace a pillow when she visits.

“Marcus isn’t here tonight?” She asks, wrapping her arms around her waist.

“Nah, he’s with his mom.” He wanders into the kitchen, plugging in his hot water kettle. “Tea?”

Beth’s about to decline but he takes a tin of ‘English Breakfast’ out of his cupboard and she’s touched he remembers what kind she likes, so she nods. She’s quiet for a while, watching him move around his kitchen and he seems to respect her unwillingness to talk until the kettle boils.

“This about Dean?”

Because he knows, of course he knows even though she doesn’t say anything to respond.

Rio runs a hand over the lower half of his face, pouring hot water into her mug with an awaiting teabag. “You should just let me take care of it.”

And by take care of ‘it’ she means ‘him’ and once again she’s blown away at the simplified violence that Rio is capable of…and how she almost wants to accept his help. Beth shakes her head and rubs her temple,

“He’s a good father.” She hates the knee-jerk reaction that seems to come with discussing Dean, like she has to justify his actions; like she has to remind herself that she loved him at one point in her life.

“You don’t gotta defend him to me, Ma, you don’t owe him shit.” Rio says easily, pushing her tea cup towards her.

Beth wraps her hands around the mug, letting the heat stick to her skin and seep into her pores. She wishes she could capture his words, bottle them, hear them again when she needs it the most. It’s hard, believing that.

“Can I stay here tonight?”

Rio nods softly, glancing at the couch over her shoulder—she already knows that he’ll insist she take the bed. It’s incredibly painful how much she wants him to join her.

Not tonight though.

He moves then, pressing a soft kiss against her temple, his hand squeezing her shoulder before passing her out of the kitchen to pull sheets out of his closet for the couch.


End file.
